For as long as I could remember, I had been an Apple user. It was common sense really, Apple’s products were always groundbreaking! They always knew exactly what the people wanted, before the people even knew they wanted it. Apple was great, that was the consensus amongst the school lunchroom. If you had the latest iPhone, you had status. It was that simple. I mean, everyone knew that android phones were slow, overly bloated cheap phones for old folk. Right? Wrong.
As years passed by and I ventured into freelance work, I began to notice something…something peculiar. Every time I wanted to do something for work I found that the iPhone was gimped, simplified yet needed adjustment. It was great for looking pretty, and maintaining ease of use. As you may have guessed by now, that wasn’t my only goal with my shiny 5S I had bought from eBay a few months ago. I now needed upload files, and manage assets on the go.
Life Changed
Of course me being the Apple fanboy I had been, I didn’t mind these things too much. These things weren’t just meant to be done on a phone. After all, if I really wanted to work I would have been on my computer! My iPhone is supposed to be a cellphone, nothing more, and definitely nothing less. I would just have to accept that fact. Besides I didn’t want a computer in my pocket! Who would want that right? (spoiler alert, it was me that wanted that.)
A Turning Point
This is where things take a turn as our title suggests, dear reader. I have a good buddy that is quite the Android enthusiast. He had always used Android, and oh boy would we bicker. I would tell him how bad Androids were. He would tell me how bad iPhones were. Quite silly in hindsight but we had manhood to defend! Defend we did. He would always have good points on me though, like how Google services were better supported on Android or the ability to root your device if you so wanted. No matter how much I tried to defend the iPhone, I couldn’t. I was in the wrong.
So here I sat with my shiny 5S that came from eBay. I wasn’t pleased with it any more. The was screen too small, the UI felt too sluggish and slow, the camera was too blurry (to be fair the camera is nearly 4 years old). I needed more from my phone, I needed a computer. I dealt with it, and as time passed I had the opportunity to get what I so desired, an Android device. A Samsung Galaxy Note 5 no less! So I did. I traded away my shiny 5S and my beloved Apple Watch (not iWatch reader, get it right.)
As Time Turns
A month had passed with my new Android phone and I’ve fallen in love with the features. The beautiful, large-but-comfortable-to-hold design, the stylus, and the camera that’s beautiful and well-rounded enough for wedding photos is wonderful, but strange. I have walked away from Apple’s devices. With that having been established, what happened in this transition? What had been lost? More importantly, what had been gained? I no longer held my view on Androids. They had gained a new level of honor in the tech battleground.
OK so they’re Simple
The moral of this story is, dear reader, that while iPhones are pretty, iconic, famous status devices, there’s one flaw in the design. They’re too simple. The devil’s in the details. They do their job, they look pretty, they make calls, they take selfies. But when do you decide that you want more; you can’t even manage files inside the devices folders without jailbreaking them. Even then you can’t achieve a jailbreak with the later updates without some real work. There are many benefits to using an Android over an iPhone. Just give it a try. I’m sure you won’t regret it.
But Why you May Ask
So, why would I like it when I’m perfectly satisfied with my iPhone? Excellent question. Let’s go over some of the beneficial points in no specific order. We will not be speaking about my situation, but in a modern perspective with the new phones that have been released and are being used today. Let’s compare and contrast several areas of use that one may favor and in the same vein perhaps dislike.
The Camera
One of the most important aspects of any phone nowadays is the camera.Many Android flagship devices are pushed with their camera being one of the big selling points. Obviously the iPhone would follow. We will compare the iPhone 7 to some of the most recent Android flagship devices.
We will be sticking with primary cameras for simplicity’s sake as this is not a review of each phone. The on-average $700 dollar iPhone 7 has an admirable 12MP camera, with all the neat little doodads that most phones come with currently. What is important is autofocus, quad-LED, and OIS (optical image stabilizer) These are all nice and dandy considering the price paid. But when compared to the much cheaper OnePlus 5 at a price point of $479 dollars which boasts a 16 MP rear camera you’ both technically and financially. Farther ahead.
Ease of Use
What about ease of use? Well, in this particular case iOS wins easily at first glance. But as you go into detail with it further you begin to trade off configurability for straightforwardness. Which one you favor over the other is based on preferences and other such things. The wonderful thing with Android is, you can do whatever with it! It can be as basic or as complex as need be! With enough know how you can more or less make a functional PC out of your phone (do I need to mention it’s possible to get Windows XP running on various Android devices?) There’s a good possibility we may see phones running ChromeOS and Windows 10 alongside Android in the future! The same however, cannot be said for iOS. Not in your dreams would you see this done on an iPhone.
A View
Am I saying that one phone is better tenfold than the other: No. Each device has it’s own merits and as such have certain weak points scattered about the device. It all comes down to the user and their preferences. Some users prefer an easy-to-use iPhone. There’s no problem with that at all. After all, it is your device! Just be sure to check around and do research before you buy anything. With such a big investment, you’ll want to be sure. This was just my story over why I switched personally and reasons why you might like to as well.
Written by Nathan Miracle as an exclusive for the Daily Mac View and Tech Today Review